


different days (just like this one)

by aerialbots



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Bromance, Canon Compliant, College, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-05 00:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11566233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerialbots/pseuds/aerialbots
Summary: They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.--F. Scott Fitzgerald,This Side of Paradise.Every story's got to start somewhere. In which Craig Cahn is a man of many titles, and everyone is a late bloomer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> @Spacecarrots and I got talking about the sports husband and his course-switching while we were still playing his path for the first time, so really, this is 100000% to blame on her.

**1\. Botany Student**

Aidan’s on time to his first class, if only just barely; being four time zones away from home will do that to you. Despite the different hours, his sisters have managed to text him about twenty times already, as well as to accumulate a backlog of another sixty messages and a couple of voice notes while he crashed on his new bed nearly immediately after arrival, though none of them sound particularly concerned -- he’s always been bad with plane rides.

His roommate was already gone when he got to his dorm, and once again when he left for class, but he woke up this morning wrapped in a sinfully soft knit blanket patterned with tiny roaring godzillas, and there’s a vague plan involving thank-you pizza forming on whatever part of his brain isn’t busy panicking and rejoicing over his first day of uni in equal parts. It wouldn’t do not to reciprocate kindness, after all.

Some unlucky bastard arrives exactly three minutes after the teacher finishes taking roll call, but you couldn’t tell that going by the easy, only slightly sheepish grin he shoots everyone as the class turns to look at the sudden interruption. He says something that Aidan can’t quite catch, but which makes professor Watney roll his eyes in amusement and a ripple of laughter sweep through the room, and they all turn back to the front as he makes his way to one of the few empty chairs left.

The one right next to him, specifically, right on the second row.

“Sleep well?”, he asks, glancing at Aidan with an impossibly bright smile. The words are quiet now Watney’s back to talking, but there’s something warm and pleasant about his voice.

He’s also wearing a beanie with tiny roaring godzillas.

Aidan smiles back, nudge the thermos on his side of the desk so his classmate can see the dinosaurs on fighter jets printed on it, kitschy hipster style. “Never better. Aidan, by the way.”

The boy touches a fingertip to one of the F-22s, delight clear on his face as he turns to Aidan. “Craig Cahn. And Aidan, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

 

 

**2\. Art Student**

“So like, not to make this weird”, Craig says, most definitely about to make things very weird, “but how much would it cost me to get you naked?”

It’s a testament to just how often Craig makes things weird that Aidan doesn’t even go red anymore. “Well, that depends. How big a wedding are we talking about?”

“Aidan, Danny, _dude_ ”, Craig whines, flopping down on Aidan’s bed and nearly elbowing him in the stomach, breaking his leg, and making him drop his book in one single movement. “I need a model for figure drawing and everyone else thinks I want to get in their pants.”

“To be fair, you want in on the pants of several people.”

“Well, yeah, but I’d rather do that _after_ I pass this class. Miss Oxton keeps giving me _pep talks_ , bro, if I disappoint her it’d be like kicking a kitten.”

Aidan doesn’t share any classes with Craig anymore, but he’s seen Miss Oxton around campus and on mixers, and he’s not wrong. “It’s the nose, and the eyes, and the way she legit sounds like a cat when she sneezes.”

“Right?”, Craig says, looking not unlike a kicked kitten himself. “C’mon, man, it’s just a couple of sessions, I promise. You can even keep your knickers on if you like, I’ll just find a dick to draw on you on the internet.”

There’s no point trying not to laugh, so Aidan doesn’t bother, just sets his book down on what little space is left on the bed and smiles down at Craig, letting him rest his cheek on the curve of Aidan’s ribcage. “Or, y’know, you could just find some porn to draw instead of me.”

“Nah, she would notice. Something about depth and planes, I got distracted and stopped understanding what she was saying and had to just sort of nod along and pretend I was taking real notes.”

There’s a nagging little thought there Aidan is nowhere near qualified enough to define, and it pops up whenever Craig does precisely this -- that tilt of his mouth and his eyes cast downwards, self deprecation disguised as humour in his voice -- but Craig’s brushed it off enough times Aidan knows better than to mention it.

He runs his hand through Craig’s soft, dark hair instead, which is as close as anyone can probably get to touching the night sky. “Alright, then, if you want me out of my clothes so much. I _am_ keeping my knickers on, mind y-- oof!”

Craig doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that he’s cracking his new model’s ribs, too busy hugging the stuffing out of him and cooing at Aidan’s face like he’s a favourite teddybear.

“Dude, I’ll buy you _all_ the knickers you like, you beautiful musk ox, you.”

“That’s land mermaid for you, but sure. I want them all lacy.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg you guys, I didn't expect such a nice response to this silly fic, thank you so much. You've basically made my week. ♡ Have some more dorky babies.

**3\. History Student**

Winter finals are always hell, but at least there’s holidays at the end of the tunnel. The only thing that’s gotten Aidan through the past two weeks is the promise of actual, non-microwaved food, and the fact that if he dies he won’t be able to take Craig home so he can see snow for the first time.

It’s his third year out of five, which meant a couple more field tests and less written exams to sit through. Craig, on the other hand, is on his third ‘first’ semester and currently only surfacing from his desk to stare at Aidan with haunted eyes, random historical factoids and pained noises coming out of his mouth at a fairly even ratio.

Aidan’s in _desperate_ need of some sleep, he submitted his own last two finals just this afternoon, but he’d feel like the shittiest friend in history if he went to bed while his best bro is three more pages from a breakdown just a couple of feet away, and so he matches Craig coffee for coffee and occasionally nudges a cereal bar towards him, lightly kicking his shin until he eats it.

Of course, he either dozes off anyway or suffers the briefest abduction ever, because one minute he’s curled on Craig’s bed with a book he can’t actually make himself read, and the next time he opens his eyes there’s a familiar warmth pressed close along his side, black hair right on his nose and making it really hard not to sneeze. Craig’s breath is quiet, shallow, and he’s trembling a little despite the blanket over them both.

His lashes are wet against the inside of Aidan’s arm.

“Bro?”, Aidan asks, voice rough with sleep, as soft as he can manage. His hand curves instinctively over Craig’s back, feels the aftershock when he tenses. He thinks, _sh, it’s okay_ , says, “What’s wrong?”

There’s a brief moment of indecision before Craig’s body molds even closer to Aidan’s, spine lax under his palm in the way of a flower that’s gone too long unwatered.

“I can’t do it, man”, he whispers, and Aidan’s heart breaks a little just from the sound of his voice. He’s never seen him crying before. “I _tried_ , I just-- I can’t even _think_ anymore...”

“The paper?”, Aidan says, something in his neck pulling painfully when he turns to look at Craig. Were it not for the tears still on his skin, Aidan would’ve thought he was asleep, he’s so unusually still. “I thought you still had another day?”

Craig exhales shaky and wet, tucks his face right under Aidan’s chin. “Paper _s_. I’m nearly done with this one but there’s the one for Gansey too.”

“Dude”, Aidan says, torn between kicking himself for not realising and Craig for not asking for help. “You’ve been telling me how nice the man is for his demographic literally all term, you can ask him for an extension.”

“Not _one day_ before the deadline”, Craig protests, but he rolls onto his side just enough to give Aidan an uncertain look. “...can I?”

Aidan hugs him again, a little tighter. “You totally can. I’ll go talk to him with you if you like, I’m sure he’ll say yes. And next semester I’m adding your exam days to my calendar, we’ll cram together and stuff.”

Craig laughs quietly, just the once, rubs his eyes with the back of his hand before settling into the contact. “Alright. Can’t hurt to ask, I guess. Thanks, bro.”

 

 

**4) Not-My-Boyfriend**

“Holy _fuck_ this is cold.”

“I know, right? I swear I don’t know how you guys survive without snow”, Aidan says, practically prancing through the woods behind his parents’ house, sled and best friend in tow.

“Yeah”, Craig says, oddly strained, but offers Aidan a cheerful grin nevertheless. “No idea.”

“You’re taking it pretty well, man, Ella brought a friend from Santa Fe like four years ago and she was practically a lollipop ten minutes in.”

“...ten?”

“Oh yeah, it’s another fifteen minutes’ walk to the field, uphill for a bit. Takes while longer if you want to see the pond.”

Craig makes a pained noise. “Nice.”

“...you’re freezing your arse off, aren’t you?”

“I tried!”, Craig cries, launching himself at Aidan and clinging only half in jest -- and nearly throwing both of them onto the snow-covered ground in the process. “It wasn’t so bad at the airport but holy _shit_ , bro, how did it even get colder?”

“We left the city, basically”, Aidan laughs, pressing his cheek to Craig’s poor, frozen ear. “Tends to feel warmer with all the buildings and cars. Sorry, man, I should’ve noticed you were cold.”

“I swear I tried, you people just have moose blood or something”, Craig says, shaking his head. He lets go of Aidan but stays under his arm, trying to leech what little body heat he can. “I should’ve brought like, a bearskin coat. Like Burt Reynolds but not quite as sexy.”

Aidan snickers, bumps their shoulders together and turns them around towards the house again. “It’s okay, we’ve got a bunch of extra coats around for when it gets _really_ cold, we’ll bundle you up in no time. No promises as to your sexiness, though.”

“I wanna say ‘how dare you, I’m always hot’, except I don’t think I can even feel my toes anymore, dude.”

“Ooh, talk hypothermia to me, baby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: forgot to add [some Craig doodles](https://aerialbots.tumblr.com/post/163506833794/some-pre-dad-haircuts) to match the fic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ngl, I find it kinda hilarious how everything else I've ever written has been either full-throttle angst with a happy ending or ridiculously cracky fluff, no in-between, and yet no matter how many ways I tried to write it, I couldn't bring myself to make these two suffer too much. This is also the longest chapter yet because I'm predictable af and Love to write people being completely bum over teakettle with newfound dokis. Hope you enjoy!

**4\. Business Student / Not-Her-Boyfriend (Yet)**

Aidan hears about Smashley long before he meets her. Almost three months earlier, to be precise, starting somewhere around the second week of the term and kind of… not stopping, afterwards.

To be quite frank, he spent most of that time about 95% sure Craig was making her up.

He could believe the stuff about alligators at the pool party, is the thing, or that she had a wolfdog growing up, that her father is a French ex-marine occasionally called in to put down rabid elephants in Africa, and even the story about being called Smashley because she spent all of her eleventh year on this planet refusing to wear, eat, or use anything not green in an effort to become the Hulk.

What he can’t believe is that she had never heard of Pulp until Aidan mentioned it two minutes ago.

“How are you a thing that exists?”, Aidan asks as though personally offended, because unless he wishes to die of secondhand embarrassment, it’s easier to focus on the little things than on the way Craig is giving her the sweet eyes when he thinks she’s not looking.

Smashley -- who is admittedly just named Ashley, but Aidan has yet to meet someone who actually _calls her_ by that name, the dean included -- just shrugs and offers Aidan a wide, unapologetic grin, a little wolfish herself in a way that is somehow less scary than it is endearing, even considering the murder-heels she’s wearing. “I guess I’ve been living under a rock.”

It’s probably possible not to smile back when she smiles at you, but Aidan doesn’t really care to try. “I feel like Norway would take offence to being called a rock.”

“Well, it does have a lot of heavy metal.”

“The yodeling would’ve been distracting, too”, Craig says, peering behind Smashley from the other end of the couch to grin at Aidan -- and, incidentally, getting him a little closer to the current object of his affections.

Aidan’s smile doesn’t slip, but he still turns back to Smashley. Aside from the faint flush on her cheeks -- which could be blamed on the colourful cocktail she’s drinking from what looks like a misappropriated flower vase -- she looks remarkably composed for someone Craig’s been Totally Not Flirting With for over three hours; most people dissolve into idiotic giggles by hour two. “So are you joining the exchange program next year, or…?”

“God no”, she laughs, then laughs harder when the back of her head accidentally bumps Craig’s cheek, making him cry out dramatically. “Shut up, you, I’ve seen you walk into doors with less complaining.”

“Doors are definitely less hard-headed”, Craig points out with a smirk, something in his eyes softening when Smashley bumps his chest with her shoulder, then stays in place.

“Anyway, sorry, but nah, nope, they couldn’t pay me to move right now, man. I finally threw down roots, I deserve to stay put for a while if I like”, Smashley says firmly, which is a little adorable considering the way she proceeds to suck on her crazy straw with more solemnity than it really entails. “Like, you know how many times my parents had us move?”

“Forty two”, say Aidan and Craig at once, then break out laughing, because they’re that sort of people.

Smashley snorts, but doesn’t move away from Craig, even when he buries his face in her shoulder to snicker some more at their dumb joke. “Ha ha. You were semi-close, though, it was twenty four.”

Aidan possibly chokes on his drink, just a little. “ _Why?_ ”

Her smile is a little smaller, deliberately airy. Aidan suspects she doesn’t shrug just so she won’t dislodge Craig from his spot. “Parents were both military, living grandparents archaeologists. Whoever I ended up with was moving all the same.”

“Well”, Craig says, and bumps the edge of their foreheads together. “It’s nicer here anyway.”

“Yeah”, Aidan agrees, doesn’t look at them as he takes his abandoned glass from a nearby table. “I’ll be right back, I need another drink.”

He’s not sure they even acknowledge him, though they probably both do, and it’s not that he planned on ditching them the rest of the party, either. He just needed some air, and it’s cool and a little quieter up on the roof. There were too many people inside.

Just one too many, really, and it was neither of the ones he left behind on that couch.

 

 

**5\. Ex-Roommate**

Craig doesn’t find out about Alex for about three months, but this is less because of Aidan making it weird and more because he refuses to let anyone know at all.

Honestly, for someone who has to take timeouts to cover his face with his hands and despair at the clichés while watching romantic comedies, starting a sort-of-capital-t Thing with one’s cute TA while doing research in the rainforest feels a little like the universe personally throwing karma at your face.

He could probably justify it as ‘what happens during semesters abroad stays abroad’, except here he is at the airport terminal, waiting for his parents amidst approximately three thousand holiday-crazed travellers, tanned as hell and cute TA in tow for Christmas.

Alex looks way too happy for someone who is also currently stuck in airport hell, but Aidan has long come to terms with the fact that he’s got a severe case of the Feelings™ for a total dorkbag.

“Stop looking so grumpy”, Alex chides, but he’s got a look like sunshine on his face as he presses a kiss to the corner of Aidan’s jaw, and it only gets brighter when Aidan leans against him on the plastic seats. “Your face will stick like that, and your parents will think I threatened you into bringing me here.”

“Like I was about to leave you alone while everyone else went home”, Aidan sniffs, fails to bite back a laugh when he gets another kiss, then another. “Plus, you’ve got your uses.”

“Really now?”, Alex murmurs, smooth as silk, which should sound hammy with his accent except it just makes Aidan blush. “Is it tagging samples? I am very good at that.”

“I just like having someone tall enough to look in the eye around.”

Alex laughs against his ear, act breaking to give way to the silly, adorable guy within. “We can walk into doorframes together, lean down at the same time to talk to everyone else, it will be very romantic.”

“I’ll rub your neck if you rub mine”, Aidan promises solemnly, then realises how that sounds. “Um.”

“I’m not laughing!”, Alex says, though his face makes it clear how much he wants to. “It’s okay, I know what you mean, it probably only sounds dirty in English.” Aidan raises an eyebrow, and this time Alex does laugh. “Okay, maybe not.”

“Should’ve left you in the jungle”, Aidan mutters, but lets his sort-of-boyfriend pull him close, tucks his face into Alex’s collar. If they’re going to be stuck waiting for another two hours, they might as well sneak some cuddles while there’s no one to mercilessly tease and/or shovel talk them, respectively.

 

 

It takes his family a single look at the Arrivals gate to realise they’ve been duped into believing Aidan was bringing just a friend, but Alex bears the ensuing interrogation in good humour and has been pretty much adopted by the time they get home. His sisters in particular are delighted by all the shenanigans from their field trips, his father not far behind, but in the end it is his mother who pulls him into the kitchen after dinner with a completely transparent excuse, then hugs him like the little boy he hasn’t been in two decades.

“Oh honey, he’s so _darling_ ”, she says, like Aidan just told her he’s won the lottery _and_ presidency of space. “And so handsome, too, no wonder you’ve barely called. I’ll be having some words with Craigory, though, I can’t believe he never mentioned it either--”

“Mamma, please”, Aidan groans, but he’s cherry red and smiling helplessly behind his hand. “He didn’t know either, I haven’t even talked to him all week.”

His mother tsks, boops him on the nose then sets to fixing his hair where the twins have ruffled it to hair and back, though both of them know there’s no helping it at this point. “Well, that explains why the phone wouldn’t stop ringing all day, he kept asking when you were getting home.”

Affection blooms in his chest, warm and familiar as the fireplace back in the living room. “I should probably give him a call, I forgot to even tell him among all the mess packing up all the equipment. Do you mind if I use yours?”

“Not at all, sweetheart. Go on, I’ll make sure the girls don’t tell your boy anything too embarrassing.”

“Ugh, please do”, Aidan says, and for once doesn’t even think of contradicting the assumption, making his way up the stairs instead.

His parents’ room is as familiar as ever, soft earth tones and dark wooden furniture. The bed doesn’t creak when he sits down on it to ring Craig’s parents’ number, but the flat noise when he lets his back hit the duvet is as comforting as the mattress below.

A click, then a familiar voice. “Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs Cahn, it’s--”

“Aidan! I know your voice just fine, don’t worry. Let me get you Craig, he’s been on the phone like a hawk all week-- ah, nevermind, here he is-- take care, sweetie, happy holidays.”

“You too”, Aidan starts, but there’s a clatter and an amused chide before a tiny gasp he’d recognise anywhere.

“Bro!”, Craig cries, and Aidan winces but doesn’t take the receiver from his ear. “I thought the rainforest had absorbed you or something, when did you get home?”

“About an hour and a half ago, sorry”, Aidan says, smiling for no reason save the realisation of just how much he misses his friend. “There was a lot to drag back to civilisation, and only like a third of us can legally drive down there.”

“It’s cool, man, I’m just glad you didn’t get eaten by an anaconda. What are you guys up to? Mrs Your Mum said you were bringing a souvenir with you.”

Aidan’s blush returns with a vengeance, and his smile probably becomes about sixty kinds of dopey. “Um, yeah, about that…”

He can practically see Craig narrowing his eyes, the way his eyes crinkle when he anticipates good news. “Wait, I know _that_ tone, I’ve subjected you to it more than long enough.”

“Maybe”, Aidan says, making a monumental effort not to hide his face on a pillow, “like, just _maybe_ , the Alex I mentioned a couple of times--”

“DUDE”, Craig-- yells, really, and Aidan just _knows_ he’s punching the air with his free hand. “Well done, yo, is he cute? Is he nice? How far do you have to crane down to make doe eyes at him?”

If his grin gets any wider Aidan’s face is going to break. “Well, I gotta get back down there soonish unless I want the twins to scar him forever--” Craig groans, already ready to protest, and Aidan giggles like a schoolkid, “-- _but_ , I can tell you the basics real quick and call you again later, yeah?”

“Bro, _deal_ , now spill.”

Aidan throws his arm over his eyes, still smiling, and does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ze_Fandoms asked about what Aidan looked like, so here's a quick sketch of him on [Tumblr](https://aerialbots.tumblr.com/post/163932029904/), in case anyone else was curious. :)


End file.
